Angled gasket

ABSTRACT

A portlight for a marine vessel including a lens having an outer surface, an inner surface and a first sealing surface disposed at a first angle relative to the outer surface, wherein the first angle is greater than ninety degrees, a portlight frame having a flange, an extension and a second sealing surface disposed at a second angle relative to an outer surface of the flange, wherein the second angle is less ninety degrees and supplementary to the first angle, a sealing gasket disposed between the first and second sealing surfaces, and a hinge rotatably secured to the extension and fixedly secured to the lens, wherein rotation of the hinge to a closed position causes the first sealing surface to compress the sealing gasket against the second sealing surface in the absence of undesirable shearing of the gasket.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention broadly relates to gaskets, more specifically to angled gaskets, and even more particularly to an angled gasket for a portlight.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portlights are constructed from many materials including but not limited to stamped and formed stainless sheet, extruded and cast aluminum and molded plastic. Portlights come in many styles and shapes, having different cross sections and mounting designs based on the needs of the ship or boat manufacturer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,758,593 and 5,842,433 provide examples of modern portlight designs, and such patents are incorporated herein by reference.

It is important to remember that a portlight is an inward opening device, with hydraulic pressure trying to push the lens inward. Traditionally, ports, e.g., port 10, are mounted from the inside of the vessel, with spigot 12 passing through inner wall 14 and projecting out. In such ports, hinges 16 and the dogs are mounted on surface 18 as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. When port 10 is in a closed position, portlight 20 compresses gasket 22 against surface 24. The portion of gasket 22 which may be subject to shearing or tearing, as described infra, is shown by broken line portion 26 of gasket 22. Portlight designers face significant challenges, depending on the sealing pressure to be achieved, to design a hinge and gasket and cross section that allows the lens element to rotate down and compress the gasket without shearing or tearing it on the hinge side of the portlight.

All gaskets must be compressed to seal. Foam gaskets typically need to be compressed 15-20%. Hard rubber gaskets are compressed less, but can not tolerate any shearing action or the density of the gasket will not allow the portlight lens to close.

It should be appreciated that the sealing of the rotating lens opposite of the hinge does not present as great of an issue as the portion of the gasket opposite the hinge. Regardless of where the hinge is located, the gasket sealing surfaces opposite the hinge come down with an almost pure vertical line of travel, referencing the horizontal lens element when it is in its final closed position. Unless specifically noted, all further discussions herein are with respect to the hinge side of the portlight.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a portlight hinge is typically positioned at least one-half inch outboard of the gasket. (See FIGS. 3A and 3B). The rotational axis of hinge 50, i.e., pin 52, is positioned approximately one-half inch from the center of gasket 54, depicted by the length shown by bi-directional arrow 56. A one-half inch offset results in some interference with the edge of the gasket and a shearing action on the gasket as it closes. It is known that the higher hinge 50 is positioned above the plane of lens 58, the worse the situation becomes. Contrarily, if hinge 50 is on the same plane as gasket 54 and only offset a small amount, e.g., one-quarter to one-half inch, the shearing action between gasket 54 and sealing surface is almost eliminated. However, such an arrangement cannot be used in any portlight design that can be readily used on a vessel of normal construction. Conversely, the higher the position of hinge 50 the better, which results in less offset of the position of hinge 50 being required. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, hinge 50 is positioned having an offset of one-half inch (shown by bi-directional arrow 56) and a height of seven-eighths inch above the center of gasket 54 (shown by bi-directional arrow 60) substantially removed any detrimental shearing forces between gasket 54 and sealing surface 62. Portlight 64 is arranged to be installed through vessel wall 66 from the outside of wall 66, and further includes inner ring 68 which is used to conceal securing hardware on the inner surface of wall 66.

FIG. 4 depicts a prior art portlight design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,593. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that when lens 70 is moved down to outer surface 72 of gasket 74 and hinge pin 76 is left in the same position, portion 78 of gasket 74 is sheared off, i.e., the portion of gasket 74 contained within the broken line. It is possible to form a portlight as depicted in FIG. 5; however, frame 80 must be made sufficiently wide to accommodate hinge 82. Such a portlight is difficult to manufacture as well as expensive. Furthermore, the width of frame 80 would be aesthetically offensive and thereby render the portlight not commercially viable.

As can be derived from the variety of devices and methods directed at forming a portlight with a gasket seal, many means have been contemplated to accomplish the desired end, i.e., long term consistent and repeated sealing of the portlight assembly. Heretofore, tradeoffs between manufacturing cost and complexity and overall performance were required. Thus, there is a long-felt need for a portlight gasket arrangement which minimizes or removes the shearing forces present in gaskets used in known portlight designs.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is particularly useful for portlights that are installed from the outside of the vessel, and as such the dogging and hinging structures must hang off of a surface that passes though the hole cut in the vessel side. (See FIG. 7A).

The present invention broadly comprises a portlight for a marine vessel including a lens having an outer surface, an inner surface and a first sealing surface disposed at a first angle relative to the outer surface, wherein the first angle is greater than ninety degrees, a portlight frame having a flange, an extension and a second sealing surface disposed at a second angle relative to an outer surface of the flange, wherein the second angle is less ninety degrees and supplementary to the first angle, a sealing gasket disposed between the first and second sealing surfaces, and a hinge rotatably secured to the extension and fixedly secured to the lens, wherein rotation of the hinge to a closed position causes the first sealing surface to compress the sealing gasket against the second sealing surface in the absence of undesirable shearing of the sealing gasket.

In some embodiments, the first angle ranges from about 120 degrees to about 150 degrees, the second angle ranges from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees and a sum of the first and second angles is about 180 degrees. In some embodiments, the first angle is about 135 degrees and the second angle is about 45 degrees. In some embodiments, the gasket is fixedly secured to the first or second sealing surface. In some embodiments, the marine vessel includes a vessel wall, the vessel wall includes an outer surface and the portlight frame is disposed within an opening in the vessel wall and the flange is secured against the outer surface of the vessel wall. In some embodiments, the outer surface of the lens is substantially coplanar with the outer surface of vessel wall.

In some embodiments, the present invention portlight further includes a lens support frame fixedly secured between the hinge and the lens, wherein the hinge is positioned directly above the lens support frame.

The present invention broadly comprises a portlight for a marine vessel including a lens having an outer surface, an inner surface and a first sealing surface disposed at a first angle relative to the outer surface, wherein the first angle is greater than ninety degrees, a portlight frame having a flange, an extension and a second sealing surface disposed at a second angle relative to an outer surface of the flange, wherein the second angle is less ninety degrees and supplementary to the first angle, a sealing gasket disposed between the first and second sealing surfaces, and a hinge rotatably secured to the extension and fixedly secured to the lens, wherein rotation of the hinge to a closed position causes the first sealing surface or the second sealing surface to approach the sealing gasket substantially perpendicularly, and to compress the sealing gasket between the first sealing surface and the second sealing surface in the absence of undesirable shearing of the sealing gasket.

In some embodiments, the first angle ranges from about 120 degrees to about 150 degrees, the second angle ranges from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees and a sum of the first and second angles is about 180 degrees. In some embodiments, the first angle is about 135 degrees and the second angle is about 45 degrees. In some embodiments, the gasket is fixedly secured to the first or second sealing surface. In some embodiments, the marine vessel includes a vessel wall, the vessel wall includes an outer surface and the portlight frame is disposed within an opening in the vessel wall and the flange is secured against the outer surface of the vessel wall. In some embodiments, the outer surface of the lens is substantially coplanar with the outer surface of vessel wall.

In some embodiments, the present invention portlight further includes a lens support frame fixedly secured between the hinge and the lens, wherein the hinge is positioned directly above the lens support frame.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a portlight having an angled gasket and sealing surfaces arranged to minimize and nearly eliminate shearing forces affecting the gasket.

It is another general object of the present invention to permit the placement of a hinge directly above a lens support frame without obscuring view through the portlight lens.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciable from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention and from the accompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature and mode of operation of the present invention will now be more fully described in the following detailed description of the invention taken with the accompanying drawing figures, in which:

FIG. 1A is a partial cross sectional view of a prior art portlight assembly in a closed position;

FIG. 1B is a partial cross sectional view of the prior art portlight assembly of FIG. 1A in an open position;

FIG. 2A is a partial cross sectional view of a present invention portlight assembly in a closed position having a known gasket orientation;

FIG. 2B is a partial cross sectional view of the present invention portlight assembly of FIG. 2A in an open position;

FIG. 3A is a partial cross sectional view of yet another prior art portlight assembly in a closed position;

FIG. 3B is a partial cross sectional view of the prior art portlight assembly of FIG. 3A in an open position;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view of still yet another prior art portlight assembly;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross sectional view of another prior art portlight assembly;

FIG. 6A is a partial cross sectional view of an embodiment of a present invention portlight assembly in a closed position;

FIG. 6B is a partial cross sectional view of the present invention portlight assembly of FIG. 6A in an open position;

FIG. 7A is a partial cross sectional view of another embodiment of a present invention portlight assembly in a closed position;

FIG. 7B is a partial cross sectional view of the present invention portlight assembly of FIG. 7A in an open position;

FIG. 8 is a front plan view of portlight including an embodiment of the present invention angled gasket; and,

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the portlight of FIG. 8 taken generally along line 9-9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical, or functionally similar, structural elements of the invention. While the present invention is described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred aspects, it is to be understood that the invention as claimed is not limited to the disclosed aspects.

Furthermore, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, materials and modifications described and as such may, of course, vary. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is limited only by the appended claims.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It should be appreciated that “clear viewing area” as used herein is intended to mean that the area within the lens through which a person may look is unobstructed by any hardware, objects, gaskets, etc., thereby permitting full use of that area for viewing. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that “undesirable shearing of the gasket” as used herein is intended to mean that the gasket is subjected to minimal shearing forces; however, as described supra, some small amount of shearing forces may still be applied to the gasket. Although any methods, devices or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are now described.

Recent design trends for portlights requires that the lens element be flush with the outer hull surface. Traditionally, such an arrangement could never be done, as traditional designs would not permit it, nor was it practical to put the glass or acrylic surface of the lens flush to the hull where is could be damaged, scratched or pressed inward by a fender or object mounted on the marine jetty. Regardless of such constraints, recent design trends require such a portlight.

In addition to the design constraints described above, the following design requirements are also present under some circumstances: (1) a clear viewing area; (2) a small frame size; (3) hardware visually hidden by being inside the outer perimeter of the port; (4) a thin cross section of the port; (5) a hinge that sits directly over the gasket; and, (6) permit a flush lens to be made with a hinge pin inside the one-half inch width, for all the aforementioned reasons.

It has been found that the foregoing design requirements can be met by arranging the sealing surfaces and sealing gasket of a portlight at an angle, e.g., an angle ranging from 30-60 degrees. An angle of 45 degrees is preferred; however, angles ranging from 30-60 degrees have been found to also satisfy the recent design requirements. It has been further found that angles shallower than 45 degrees, i.e., less than 45 degrees, on the hinge side begin to introduce the shearing situation described supra. However, a problem arises on the side opposite the hinge. If the gasket support surfaces were vertical, pure shear and minimal translation of the gasket support surfaces needed to generate the 20% compression of the gasket occurs. A gasket angle of 45 degrees averages the forces so that both sides get some compression, no tearing of the gasket occurs and both sides of the portlight, i.e., hinge side and the side opposite thereto, seal properly.

It should be noted that the shearing and tearing of the gasket are minimized; however, such conditions are not entirely eliminated. Once the gasket is safely delivered to the mating sealing surface, there is some friction between the gasket and that surface which causes some “shearing” forces to be set up that simply cause the rubber to be pushed sideways. A “shearing” force actually does this, but it is irrelevant as the sealing surfaces of the gasket are in contact with the mating surfaces before this occurs. It has been found that the amount of movement or translation of the rubber is minimal and has no affect on the performance of the gasket, short term or long term. Moreover, gaskets do not have to include flat surfaces. It might be desirable to dome or curve the outer surface so the center of the gasket makes contact with the mating surface first, thereby further minimizing the “shearing” forces.

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict a present invention portlight hinge arrangement; however, the embodiment depicted in these figures does not include an angled gasket. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the benefits of the present invention angled gasket in combination with the present invention portlight hinge arrangement shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Portlight 30 includes surfaces 32 and 34 that support gasket 36. Surfaces 32 and 34 are parallel with one another and parallel to lens element 38 when fully closed. Such an arrangement sets up a shearing situation with gasket 34. Portlight 30 is arranged to be installed through vessel wall 40 from the outside of wall 40. The portion of gasket 36 which is subject to shearing or tearing is shown by broken line portion 42 of gasket 36. As can be appreciated in view of these figures, conventional gasket arrangements will not function with this embodiment of the present invention hinge arrangement without unacceptable shearing of the gasket.

FIGS. 6A and 6B shows an embodiment of a present invention angled gasket and hinge assembly, i.e., a similar hinge assembly as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. In this embodiment, hinge 100 is positioned within port 101 and directly over lens support frame 102. Such an arrangement was not previously possible as the hinge would have visible within the outer perimeter of the port. Port frame 104 comprises body 106 having flange 108 arranged to seal against the outer surface of vessel wall 110. Body 106 further comprises sealing surface 112 and extension 114 whereon hinge 100 is secured. Hinge 100 comprises extension 116, pin 118 and rotating element 120. Rotating element 120 is fixedly secured to lens support frame 102, while lens support frame 102 is in turn fixedly secured to lens 122. In this embodiment, gasket 124 is secured to lens 122; however, gasket 124 could alternatively be secured to sealing surface 112. As the assembly of rotating element 120, lens support frame 102, lens 122 and gasket 124 is rotated towards sealing surface 112, surface 126 of gasket 124 approaches surface 112 substantially perpendicularly which results in minimal shearing forces. As can be seen in the figures, sealing surface 112 and surface 126 of gasket 124 are disposed at angle α relative to outer surface 128 of body 106. As described supra, angle α may range between 30 degrees and 60 degrees, and is preferably approximately 45 degrees.

Another embodiment of a present invention angled gasket and hinge assembly is shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. This embodiment may take the form of a plastic, stamped stainless steel, or extruded aluminum port that includes an internal trim ring which may be used to clamp the port light onto the hull surface to aid a builder in the installation process. In this embodiment, port 150 comprises hinge 152. Unlike the previous embodiment, hinge 152 is positioned above port frame 154 and not positioned within port 150 or directly over lens 156. Port frame 154 comprises body 158 having flange 160 arranged to seal against the outer surface of vessel wall 162. Body 158 further comprises sealing surface 164 and extension 166 whereon hinge 152 is secured. Hinge 152 comprises extension 168, pin 170 and rotating element 172. Rotating element 172 is fixedly secured to lens 156 by securing portion 174 of rotating element 172 via screw 176 and insert 178. In this embodiment, gasket 180 is secured to lens 156; however, gasket 180 could alternatively be secured to sealing surface 164. As the assembly of rotating element 172, lens 156 and gasket 180 is rotated towards sealing surface 164, surface 182 of gasket 180 approaches surface 164 substantially perpendicularly which results in minimal shearing forces. Similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, sealing surface 164 and surface 182 of gasket 180 are disposed at an angle relative to outer surface 184 of body 158. As described supra, the angle may range between 30 degrees and 60 degrees, and is preferably approximately 45 degrees.

It should be appreciated that an embodiment of the present invention includes an internal trim ring, e.g., trim ring 186. In some embodiments, trim ring 186 is independent of port base frame 154. In other words, trim ring 186 may be purely decorative. Alternatively, in other embodiments, trim ring 186 screws into the port base frame, e.g., port frame 154, and draws the trim ring and base frame together.

It should be further appreciated that the arrangement of the present invention portlight permits the substantial coplanar positioning of the outer surface of the port lens and the outer surface of the vessel. Positioning the sealing gasket at an angle relative to the foregoing outer surfaces decreases the offset of the gasket from the sealing surface in the direction from the outer surface and the inner surface. In other words, the known gasket arrangements result in the lens being offset by an amount equal to the thickness of the gasket, while the present invention angled gasket results in the lens being offset by an amount that is less than the thickness of the gasket, i.e., the fraction of the thickness based on the angle of the gasket position.

FIGS. 8 and 9 depict a portlight having the present invention angled gasket arranged therein. Portlight 200 includes trim ring 202, lens 204, hinge 206 and dogs 208. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate dogs 208 are used to securely hold lens 204 against gasket 210. As can be seen in FIG. 9, portlight 200 is secured within vessel wall 212 via port frame 214 and trim ring 202. As can be further appreciated in view of FIG. 9, outer surface 216 of lens 204 is substantially coplanar with outer surface 218 of vessel wall 212. Moreover, the sealing surface of lens 204 forms an angle ranging from about 120 degrees and about 150 degrees, i.e., angle β. Thus, the combination of angle α and angle β results in a value of approximately 180 degrees.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing present invention portlight arrangements permit the reduction in size of the portlight frame. In other words, by permitting the positioning of the hinge within the portlight without obscuring the portlight's viewable area, the overall frame size may be reduced. Furthermore, the present invention portlight arrangement permits the outer surface of the port lens to be substantially coplanar with the outer surface of the vessel wall.

Thus, it is seen that the objects of the present invention are efficiently obtained, although modifications and changes to the invention should be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art, which modifications are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. It also is understood that the foregoing description is illustrative of the present invention and should not be considered as limiting. Therefore, other embodiments of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 

What I claim is:
 1. A portlight for a marine vessel comprising: a lens comprising an outer surface, an inner surface and a first sealing surface disposed at a first angle relative to the outer surface, wherein the first angle is greater than ninety degrees; a portlight frame comprising a flange, an extension and a second sealing surface disposed at a second angle relative to an outer surface of the flange, wherein the second angle is less ninety degrees and supplementary to the first angle; a sealing gasket disposed between the first and second sealing surfaces; and, a hinge rotatably secured to the extension and fixedly secured to the lens, wherein rotation of the hinge to a closed position causes the first sealing surface to compress the sealing gasket against the second sealing surface in the absence of undesirable shearing of the sealing gasket.
 2. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the first angle ranges from about 120 degrees to about 150 degrees, the second angle ranges from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees and a sum of the first and second angles is about 180 degrees.
 3. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the first angle is about 135 degrees and the second angle is about 45 degrees.
 4. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the gasket is fixedly secured to the first or second sealing surface.
 5. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the marine vessel comprised a vessel wall, the vessel wall comprises an outer surface and the portlight frame is disposed within an opening in the vessel wall and the flange is secured against the outer surface of the vessel wall.
 6. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 5 wherein the outer surface of the lens is substantially coplanar with the outer surface of vessel wall.
 7. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 further comprising a lens support frame fixedly secured between the hinge and the lens, wherein the hinge is positioned directly above the lens support frame.
 8. A portlight for a marine vessel comprising: a lens comprising an outer surface, an inner surface and a first sealing surface disposed at a first angle relative to the outer surface, wherein the first angle is greater than ninety degrees; a portlight frame comprising a flange, an extension and a second sealing surface disposed at a second angle relative to an outer surface of the flange, wherein the second angle is less ninety degrees and supplementary to the first angle; a sealing gasket disposed between the first and second sealing surfaces; and, a hinge rotatably secured to the extension and fixedly secured to the lens, wherein rotation of the hinge to a closed position causes the first sealing surface or the second sealing surface to approach the sealing gasket substantially perpendicularly, and to compress the sealing gasket between the first sealing surface and the second sealing surface in the absence of undesirable shearing of the sealing gasket.
 9. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the first angle ranges from about 120 degrees to about 150 degrees, the second angle ranges from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees and a sum of the first and second angles is about 180 degrees.
 10. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the first angle is about 135 degrees and the second angle is about 45 degrees.
 11. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the gasket is fixedly secured to the first or second sealing surface.
 12. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 wherein the marine vessel comprised a vessel wall, the vessel wall comprises an outer surface and the portlight frame is disposed within an opening in the vessel wall and the flange is secured against the outer surface of the vessel wall.
 13. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 12 wherein the outer surface of the lens is substantially coplanar with the outer surface of vessel wall.
 14. The portlight for a marine vessel of claim 1 further comprising a lens support frame fixedly secured between the hinge and the lens, wherein the hinge is positioned directly above the lens support frame. 